Kali Puja

Kali Puja 2017 Date

Thursday 19 October 2017

Best Mahurat for Kali Puja 2017

11:29 PM to 12:18 AM (49 minutes)

Kali Puja also called Shyama Puja, the major celebration of Bengal after the grand Durga Puja, is performed on the night of Diwali when the rest of India does Lakshmi Puja. Not only Bengal, Kali puja is also celebrated in Assam and Odisha. This puja is done on the Amavasya tithi (new moon day) of Bengali Kartik month (Oct-Nov).

Why Maa Kali – the Form of Shakti – is Worshipped?

Bengalis adore Maa Kali or Mother Kali as she is the positive form of Shakti or Power. Just as a mother protects her child from all the negative influences, Goddess Kali too protects her children- we, the human beings- from evil and negative forces. Maa Kali is always depicted as dark and ferocious goddess. Kali means black or dark. This colour embodies all the colours and thus becomes the colour of power. By worshipping Kali, people seek her assistance in destroying evil, both outside and within us. Those who worship Kali believe that this Puja kills ego and all negative tendencies that might become an obstacle in achieving spiritual growth. Through her power of eliminating the evil, mother not only protects the outwardly negative forces but also the inner negative feelings of her devotees. Why Kali is believed to be the ultimate form of power is reflected in the legend behind the birth of this Goddess.

Legend of Goddess Kali’s Birth

There were two demons named Shambhu and Nishambhu. These demons made the life of Lord Indra, the King of Gods difficult. There were numerous among the gods and the demons and with each win, the demons became stronger. The gods then decided to pray to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, the other form of Goddess Durga. Listening to the woes of gods, Durga became angry and gave birth to Kali from her forehead.

Goddess Kali took birth to save the heaven and the earth from the rising brutality of demons. Her two escorts Dakini and Jogini accompanied her on her way to end the war and kill the demons. The ferocious Kali went on a killing spree and ended all the demons, made a garland of demons’ heads and wore it. During this rampant killing of demons, Kali lost her control and started killing everyone who came her way.

Now the gods got scared and again took shelter in Lord Shiva. To stop Kali from destroying the universe, Lord Shiva lay himself down on the way of Kali. As soon as Kali stepped on the chest of Shiva, she realized what mistake had she done by insulting her consort. In astonishment and realization of her mistake, she stuck out her tongue in repentance. This recovered the lost senses of Kali. Since then Kali is depicted with her one leg on the chest of Shiva lying down and her tongue stuck out in repentance.

How is Kali Puja Performed?

While most of the Bengali families worship Kali everyday at home during their daily worship, Kali Puja on this particular day of Kartik Amavasya is performed as a community in pandals. Pandal is a temporary temple made of tents/ cloth and other decorative items where a clay idol of Goddesss Kali is established and invoked. Puja is done by Purohit at midnight when it is the best mahurat for doing so. On this day, Tantrics also perform Kali Puja but they do it separately and with other rituals. Their aim of worshipping is different from that of other people in general.

Generally, in pandals, people offer puja through purohit who performs it with set paddhati (manner) prescribed in religious books. Many people fast the whole day and break their fasts only after the Puja gets over which sometimes even take few hours till morning. In the ancient times, there was the ritual of sacrificing animal and offering animal blood to Maa Kali. However, these days, this sacrifice is performed symbolically with some fruit or vegetable. In place of animal a banana or pumpkin is sacrificed. The below book gives elaborate Kali Puja Paddhati for Purohits that can be very helpful to people in general.